In search of a January 1748 French prize ship…

Andre Bernardin Nageon de l’Estang claimed to have been shipwrecked (very probably in Mauritius), which surely means that he was a crew member on board a French-controlled ship. Since my last post, I’ve changed my mind about the type of source for the “richesses de l’Indus” (in Bernardin’s testament).

Specifically, I’m now wondering if this was this a prize ship (probably, though not necessarily, called the Indus) captured by a French ship in the Indian Ocean, sent back to Mauritius with a skeleton crew, but which was then shipwrecked on Mauritius by the hurricane of January 1748.

However, any prize ship captured around that time of year would have wanted (with the start of monsoon season) to depart immediately for Mauritius. Hence I suspect that this means any such capture would have to have happened in the narrow window between early December 1747 and early January 1748.

So, this post attempts to work out the historical context for this one-month window, and hopefully tries to draw up a list of French ships that were close by during December 1747. It also tries to see what historical sources might be available for pursuing this search further (in future posts).

The First Carnatic War (1740-1748)

Notwithstanding its origins in the War of Austrian Succession, the First Carnatic War largely played out as a protracted fight between Britain and France for control over the (hugely lucrative) Indian coastal trading ports of Madras, Pondicherry, and Cuddalore.

By the end of 1747, however, France was (literally) in retreat. Previously, La Bourdonnais had sailed back from Madras (where things had got too, errrm, hot for him) to France, which all ended very badly for him. In India, this left the Compagnie des Indes traders under Dupleix with no maritime support.

Georges Lacour-Gayet’s “La marine militaire de France sous le règne de Louis XVI” (1910, 2nd edition) covers much of this in his chapter 13, though the precise period we’re interested in starts on p.215.

Precis-ing at speed: La Bourdonnais’ successor was former Antarctic explorer Bouvet de Lozier (discoverer of the unbelievably remote Bouvet Island), who reached Mauritius on 12 October 1848 with the Lys and four other ships. What had happened in the intervening period is that a new British admiral (Admiral Griffin) had gained almost complete control of the Coromandel Coast. Dupleix, faced with the possibility of losing control of Madras and ending up under siege in Pondicherry, sent a message to Port-Louis (then the capital of Mauritius), asking for help. Capitaine d’Ordelin reached Port Louis with Dupleix’s message in December 1747.

The governor of Mauritius (Pierre David) was already aware of a problem: he had heard that the British Admiral Boscawen was preparing a squadron of ships heading for the Indies (Boscawen’s squadron left on 28 November 1747). In response, Pierre David had armed all the suitable ships in Port-Louis, and ordered them to rendezvous at Foule Pointe in Madagascar (between Tamatave and Sainte-Marie). Yet despite all the governor’s activity, Bouvet de Lozier only actually left Foule Pointe on 23rd May 1748 with seven vessels – the Lys, the Apollon, the Anglesey, the Mars, the Brillant, the Centaure, and the Cybèle. (Capitaine de Kersaint’s Alcide wouldn’t reach Ile de France until June 1748.)

Jean-Marie Chelin’s “Histoire Maritime de l‘Ile Maurice”

As I previously reported, when the hurricane of 21 Jan 1748 struck Mauritius, the Brillant, the Renommée, and the Mars all ended up beached in Port-Louis harbour, while three other (unnamed) boats were lost. Daniel Krieg very kindly gave me updated information on the same time period from a more recent book, Jean-Marie Chelin’s “Histoire Maritime de l’Ile Maurice” (Volume 1):

• 16 Feb 1747: death of Pierre Boideau, a volontaire on the Phenix
• 02 Mar 1747: announcement of the death of Jean Tardivel, pilot of the Argonaute
• 14 Jun 1747: death of Etienne Laterre, second captain of the frigate Anglesey (720 tonnes, 48 cannons)
• 12 Oct 1747: arrival of Jean Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier on the Lys (64 cannons).
• Dec 1747: arrival from Pondicherry of a squadron under the command of d’Ordelin, comprising the Centaure, the Brillant, the Mars and the Saint-Louis. All four were in a pitiful state, and took several months to repair.
• 20 Dec 1747: the departure of the Apollon (Capitaine Baudran de la Metterie) and the Anglesey (Capitaine Gervais de la Mabonnays) for a cruise to the Cape of Good Hope.
• 22 Jan 1748: Jean Francois Fortier (volontaire on the Centaure) died, aged 21
• 3 Feb 1748: the Aimable, Capitaine de Surville, arrived from Foule Point having lost a cargo of 350 cows and “140 milliers” of rice in the hurricane at sea. He also had to throw his cannons overboard and cut down his masts to survive.
• 11 Feb 1748: arrival of the Princesse Amelie, an English prize from Pondicherry, commanded by Capitaine Julien Louis Litoust de La Berteche.
• 25 Feb 1748: the Lyon, Capitaine Rouille, arrived in a terrible state, having spent six months at sea: he advised that the rest of the squadron coming from France that his ship had been part of (under the Chevalier de Saint-Georges) had been lost.
• 28 Feb 1748: the departure of the Apollon (under Capitaine de La Porte Barre) and the Anglesey for another cruise to the Cape of Good Hope.
• 20 Mar 1748: death of Thomas Durant, first lieutenant on the Apollon.
• 21 Apr 1748: Governor David sent a squadron to the Indies, led by Bouvert de Lozier, made up of the Lys, the Apollon, and the Anglesey (all French Navy ships), plus the Centaure, the Moras, the Brillant, the Cybele, and the Princess Amelie (all Compagnie des Indes ships)

Memoires de Hommes

You can get a lot of information about Compagnie des Indes ships from this period by searching the Compagnie des Indes section of the Memoires des Hommes website. So what has this got to say about the ships named above?

• LYS – 1747-1749 – vessel, 850 tonnes, 64 cannons
  • Captain: Jean-Baptiste-Charles de Lozier Bouvet
  • Crew list
  • Journal de bord: 4JJ 102-98 and 4JJ 102-98 bis (in A.N.Mar)
  • 1747:
    • arrivée 12/10/1747 – île de France
    • départ 03/05/1748 – île Bourbon
  • See: Estienne 1423, 1445, 1580 ; Demerliac XV 2303 ; Roche I p. 290
• APOLLON – 1748-1750 – vessel, 44 cannons
  • Captain: Thomas-Herbert de La Porte Barré
  • Crew list
  • Journal de bord: 4JJ 144B-4 (extract)
  • 1748:
    • armement 28/02/1748 – île de France
    • départ vers le 29/04/1748 – île de France
  • See: Estienne 1497, 1594 ; Demerliac XV 2313 ; Roche I p. 44
• ANGLESEY / ANGLESEA – 1747-1749 – frigate, 720 tonnes, 48 cannons
  • Captain: Marc-Antoine Selle
  • Crew List
  • Journaux de bord: 4JJ 77-42, 4JJ 77-46, 4JJ 144B-4 (in A.N.Mar.)
  • 1747:
    • armement 28/02/1748 – île de France
  • See: Estienne 1496, 1576 ; Demerliac XV 2314 ; Roche I p. 42
• MARS – 1746-1751 – vessel, 700 tonnes, 32 cannons
  • Captain: Joseph-Jean-Baptiste Gardin Du Brossay
  • Crew list
  • 1747:
    • départ vers le 30/09/1747 – Mahé, Inde
    • arrivée avant 01/02/1748 – île de France
  • See: Estienne 1367, 1523, 1639 ; Demerliac XV 1852
• BRILLANT – 1746-1750 – vessel, 550 tonnes, 34 cannons
  • Captain: Jean-Théophile de Boisquesnay
  • Crew list
  • Journaux de bord are 4JJ 102-98 (“journal de l’escadre”), 4JJ 117-63, 4JJ 144B-4, 4JJ 144C-8
  • See: Estienne 1365, 1612 ; Demerliac XV 1855
  • Also: Estienne 1502 ; Demerliac XV 2316
  • Note: there was also a British ship “Brillant” captured close to Madras in 1746, that was subsequently recaptured back from the French in February 1747.
• CENTAURE – 1746-1750 – vessel, 1200 tonnes, 76 cannons
  • Captain: Alain Dordelin (deceased), and then Guillaume de La Butte Frérot
  • Crew list
  • 1747:
    • départ vers le 10/04/1747 – Mahé, Inde
    • /05/1747 – Mourmougon, Inde
    • /06/1747 – Goa, Inde
    • départ vers le 28/09/1747 – Mahé, Inde
    • /12/1747 – île de France
    • armement 20/04/1748 – île de France
  • See: Estienne 1366, 1505, 1528, 1589 ; Demerliac XV 1772
• CYBÈLE – 1747-1749 – frigate, 170 tonnes, 22 cannons
  • Captain: Thomas Rapion de La Placelière
  • Crew list
  • Journaux de bord are in 4JJ 102-99 and 4JJ 144B-4 (in A.N.Mar.)
  • 1P 302-60.6 (in S.H.D.L.) is “Cahier des expéditions des vaisseaux de 1746 à 1747”
  • See: Estienne 1426, 1566 ; Demerliac XV 2121
• SAINT-LOUIS – 1745-1748 – 600 tonnes, 32 cannons
  • Captain: Thomas Prigent de Penlan
  • Crew list
  • Journaux de bord: 4JJ 92-22, 4JJ 144B-4 (extract)
  • Estienne 1333, 1344, 1517 ; Demerliac XV 1861
• PHOENIX – 1745-1747 – vessel, 790 tonnes, 44 cannons
  • Captain: Jean-Jacques de La Chaise
  • Crew list
  • Condemned 15 Jan 1747
  • See: Estienne 1332, 1343, 1420 ; Demerliac XV 1838
• ARGONAUTE – 1746-1748 – vessel, 600 tonnes, 30 cannons
  • Captain: François Le Fol de La Londe
  • Crew list
  • Journaux de bord: 4JJ 71-38 (1747), 4JJ 77-40, 4JJ 102-98, 4JJ 144B-4
  • Estienne 1363, 1395, 1530 ; Demerliac XV 1847
• RENOMMEE – 1741-1748 – frigate, 400 tonnes, 40 cannons
  • Captain: Charles Gravé de Coligny
  • Crew list
  • Arrived at Ile de France, 12/1746 (having been disarmed on 28/03/1742?)
  • See: Estienne 1139, 1188 ; Demerliac XV 2028
• MORAS (not known) (there was a later Moras 1756-1761)
• AIMABLE – 1747-1750 – vessel, 550 tonnes, 30 cannons
  • Captain: René-Louis de Surville
  • Crew list
  • See: Estienne 1435, 1506, 1633 ; Demerliac XV 1854

The archives have many other incidental documents associated with these ships: one such document lists all the people from Ile de Bourbon (modern-day Reunion) boarding Bouvet de Lozier’s squadron in 1748: these were largely stone masons from Portuguese Malabar (the southwestern coast of modern India) going to Pondicherry. Also: B4 62 f°314 contains letters from Bouvet de Lozier about the state of the vessels in his squadron (in 1748), which sounds interesting.

However, the obvious first place to look for specific detail is in the journaux de bord.

Conclusions

I suspect we can disregard the Centaure, Mars, Brillant and Saint-Louis (because all were being repaired during December 1747 to January 1748). The Renommee too was in Port-Louis harbour (but disarmed and docked), so that seems unlikely too: and there’s no sign the Lys left the island at all (though its journal de l’escadre might well turn out to be an interesting read for this period.)

The most likely prize-takers would therefore seem to be the Apollon and the Anglesey, who both went on a cruise to the Cape of Good Hope in December 1747 (in exactly the time window I’m interested in). Both have journaux de bord in the archives (though the Anglesey‘s seems more substantial than the Apollon‘s).

As an aside, arguably the most historically interesting ship mentioned above is the Princesse Amelie, a British prize sent from Pondicherry. It turns out that there is an entire chapter (pp.126-184) in Louis Mannory’s “Plaidoyers Et Mémoires: Contenant Des questions intéressantes” about how the Princesse Amelie was taken “by ruse” from Madras harbour at the start of March 1747 (with a hugely valuable cargo), and all the legal to-ings and fro-ings associated with that whole incident. But that’s a story for another day!

PS: there’s a very long list of lost East India Company ships here, that mentions (as well as the Princess Amelia):

• Anson (479 tons) – Captured off Bombay on 2 Sep 1747 by French frigates Apollo and Anglesea.
• Heathcote (498 tons, 29 cannons) – Lost 7 June 1747, in the Strait of Bab el Mandeb.